Vietnamese consumers urged to buy local milk

 

 

Vietnamese consumers have been encouraged to buy local milk products so as to boost the local economy, the Vietnam Standard and Consumers Association (VINASTAS) said Monday (Aug 17).

 

VINASTAS vice chairman Ho Tat Thang said the price of imported milk was between 1.5 to 2.5 times higher than local products despite having the same ingredients, nutritional value and effects.

 

Thang added that imported milk accounted for 80 percent of the milk market in Vietnam.

 

Turning to the national economy, he said the use of domestic milk products would facilitate the development of milk cow husbandry and create jobs for local farmers.

 

He noted that fresh milk from local farmers supplied only 28 percent of domestic production and consumption.

 

As for the production sector, he said the use of more domestic products would encourage enterprises to invest more in the field, improve technology and create jobs for local residents.

 

Thang also said the association's campaign also aimed to encourage local dairy firms to improve the quality of their products while reducing prices to attract more buyers, said Thang.

 

According to a report on retail sales data between 2003 and 2008 conducted by Euromonitor International - an independent provider of business intelligence - the average price of fresh milk was US$1.40 per litre in Vietnam, US$0.50 in India and between US$0.50-US$0.90 in the US and EU countries.

 

A national comparative study released last month reported that imported powdered milk in Vietnam sometimes retailed at more than three times the price of neighbouring countries.

 

According to a survey by the Ministry of Industry and Trade, retail prices of most milk products in Vietnam were the highest in the region.

 

Other products sell in Vietnam at between 10- to 70-percent higher than other countries in the survey.

 

US$1 = VND17,105 (Aug 18)